Future phone chargers could spell the end of slow charging

Smartphones are quickly becoming as clever, if not cleverer, than your home computer and yet the battery technology has changed little over the years. But that is all set to change.

Californian start-up Qnovo has developed some clever new software known as QNS, which works out how quickly a smartphone’s battery can be charged (i.e. how much power to pump in at once) without causing damage. The result is a much faster charge than we currently experience.

Charging is said to take a third of the time when using the Qnovo QNS software compared with a conventional charger. So just 15 minutes of charging can recharge roughly six hours of battery life. A Qnovo-developed chip that manages the whole process is said to further reduce charging time, while the Qnovo’s software can also supposedly prolong your phone battery’s longevity, so it won’t need replacing as soon.

“Your battery has good days and bad days, just like you do. With intelligent charging, Qnovo recognizes not only when your battery can be charged faster, but also when it should be charged a little more slowly to ensure it will last,” Qnovo explains.

Processor giant Qualcomm is also working on charging technologies to make life more convenient. It has developed a technology that turns everyday objects into wireless chargers. So you could plonk your phone down at a table in a restaurant and top-up the battery.

Qualcomm’s grand plan is to implement wireless technology everywhere, making those worries about midday charges or finding that elusive USB cable a thing of the past.

Qualcomm wireless technology is scheduled to arrive towards the end of 2014 or early 2015. In exactly what form and where remains to be seen. The Qnovo software and chip could feature in smartphones from 2015, according to CEO Namin Maluf, who is in currently talks with phone manufacturers.

While the convenience of every object being able to charge a wireless charging-enabled device, it seems a tad wasteful. How about we improve battery capacity first, eh?

Check out the Qnovo QNS software in the video below, if you like watching battery capacity numbers tick upwards.